None of them, however, may be as fun, or as cool, as the projects being worked on in the Model Shop, Microsoft's lab where it is prototyping and building its next generation of hardware products.

For years, the team at the model shop was just building keyboards and mice. Then, it started cranking out Xboxes. Now, it's making the Surface tablet, and much more.

We were in Redmond, Washington at Microsoft's headquarters recently, and we got a tour of the space. In this space Microsoft uses 3D printing machines, CNC machines and other heavy duty tools to craft the prototypes of its next wave of game-changing gadgets.

Here's the man who runs the operation, Vincent Jesus. He was wearing flip-flops the day we visited.

This is a small sample of some the prototyping and design work Jesus and his team have done for Microsoft.

Microsoft's designers come to the model shop with ideas of what they want to make, and the designers at the model shop craft 3D models. It's easier to figure out what works and what doesn't using 3D printed models.